How Much Upload Speed Should I Get From Freedom Pop
- Coverage
- Which network does FreedomPop use?
- 5G Coverage
- 4G Coverage
- 3G Coverage
- Plans
- 5G
- Roaming
- Tethering
- VoLTE
- WiFI Calling
- Information rollover
- Spending caps
- Unlimited data
- Family plans
- Credit Checks
- Unique perks
- Awards
- Network
- Speeds
- Frequencies
- Traffic Management
- Customer Service
- Determination
- Alternatives
Coverage
Which network does FreedomPop use?
FreedomPop relies on Three's network, and so information technology has coverage in all the aforementioned places. The exception to that is that you can't become 5G on FreedomPop at the fourth dimension of writing, fifty-fifty though Three offers it, only 4G and 3G coverage should be identical across the 2.
| Network Type | Coverage by population |
|---|---|
| 4G | 99.viii% |
| 3G | 98.seven% |
| 2G | N/A |
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5G coverage
FreedomPop doesn't offering 5G yet and hasn't said if or when information technology will. It'due south worth noting that the network volition exist reliant on Three for coverage though, meaning it tin can just roll 5G out to places where Three already has it. At the time of writing that means parts of at least 303 towns and cities.
4G coverage
As a Iii MVNO, FreedomPop currently has 99.eight% UK population coverage with 4G. That'south comparable to other networks, and Three'due south network is improving quickly.
Towns and cities with partial or full 4G coverage include:
Aberdeen, Birmingham, Blackpool, Bolton, Bournemouth, Bradford, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Coventry, Derby, Dundee, Durham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Gloucester, Huddersfield, Ipswich, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Luton, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Preston, Sheffield, Southampton, Southend On Bounding main, Stoke on Trent, Swindon, Watford and York.
The full listing is far likewise big to include here and is growing all the time, so if you don't take FreedomPop 4G coverage where you are now, you lot likely volition do soon.
3G coverage
FreedomPop likewise has effectually 98.7% coverage with 3G, which once more is competitive, if not quite as impressive as its 4G coverage.
Apply FreedomPop'due south coverage checker higher up to find out more most FreedomPop coverage in your area, including signal strengths and details on both indoor and outdoor coverage.
Plans
FreedomPop offers a small range of SIM Simply plans, with the cheapest costing just £3.49 per month. However the network doesn't offer whatsoever other kinds of plans.
| Mobile Phones | SIM Only | Information just SIM | |
| Plans bachelor | Ten | ✔ | X |
| Max Data | - | 4GB | - |
| Contract lengths | - | ane month | - |
| Deals | - | Compare deals | - |
FreedomPop has a handful of different SIM Only plans, all of which come with an assart of minutes, texts, and data.
They're extremely basic plans, topping out at just 4GB of data, which is a very depression allowance, so FreedomPop is only suited to light users.
There aren't many extras available either, and those that in that location are mostly toll actress, as nosotros'll detail beneath. However, the network is also extremely cheap for its basic plans, and that's its chief selling indicate.
Ultimately, these plans brand FreedomPop best for people who want to spend as little equally possible, or who desire a cheap secondary SIM card.
| SIM Merely | |
| 5G | ✖ |
| Roaming | ✖ |
| Tethering | ✔ |
| Wi-Fi Calling | ✔ |
| VoLTE | ✖ |
| Information Rollover | ✔ |
| Spending Caps | ✔ |
| Unlimited Information | ✖ |
| Family Plans | ✖ |
| Credit Cheque | ✖ |
FreedomPop has a handful of extras, detailed below. Note that these extras and their prices were correct concluding fourth dimension we were able to check, notwithstanding they're no longer visible to not-subscribers and the network didn't reply to our request for information.
5G
FreedomPop doesn't yet offer 5G, so it'due south not available on any of the company'southward plans. If that ever changes it will presumably share coverage with Iii, since that's its current network partner.
Roaming destinations
FreedomPop'southward standard SIM cards don't include free roaming on any plan. In fact, y'all can't roam at all.
Yet, the network used to offer 'WhatsApp SIM cards'. These limit you to 3G information whether at home or abroad – and so they're less useful if you plan to by and large use your phone in the UK. But they include free data roaming in the post-obit destinations:
Republic of austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Republic of croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Republic of hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the US.
Those are fewer locations than most networks now permit you lot to roam for free in, but they include destinations beyond Europe, which most rival networks don't. If you already have a WhatsApp SIM you may be able to keep using it to roam, but FreedomPop no longer offers this service to new customers.
Tethering
FreedomPop allows tethering but just if you subscribe to FreedomPop Premier, which costs £iii.99 per month on meridian of whatsoever other costs.
Wi-Fi Calling
Wi-Fi Calling refers to making calls, receiving calls and sending texts over Wi-Fi, rather than over a mobile network. It can exist handy equally indoor locations (where Wi-Fi is often available) can besides frequently accept bespeak blackspots, then Wi-Fi Calling ensures you can however stay in touch. FreedomPop offers this service, and it works through the same apps as the standard FreedomPop service.
VoLTE
VoLTE stands for Phonation over LTE and is also sometimes chosen 4G Calling. As you might have guessed from that proper noun it means calling over 4G, rather than 3G or 2G. This isn't a standard feature of mobile networks, only it means you tin can call in more places, as you'll be able to use your phone when there's a 4G signal just no 2G or 3G. Nevertheless, VoLTE isn't currently offered by FreedomPop.
Information rollover
Data rollover is available on FreedomPop, just y'all have to pay extra for information technology – it costs £one.49 per month. Add together this to your program and you tin can whorl over unused data to a second month, giving you a second chance to use it.
Spending caps
FreedomPop offers spending caps equally a paid extra, so you tin can limit the amount you spend on out-of-bundle charges. Annotation however that this is a standard feature on nearly networks.
Unlimited data
Unlimited data isn't offered on FreedomPop, with the network topping out at a paltry 4GB. Then this isn't the identify for heavy data users.
Family unit plans
There aren't any family unit plans on FreedomPop, so you lot don't become discounts for having multiple SIMs on your business relationship.
Credit cheque
As FreedomPop's plans aren't contracts (all only lasting 30 days) y'all don't have to pass a credit check to use the network.
Unique perks
1 big extra on this network is FreedomPop Premier, which allows y'all to tether, get visual voicemail, usage alerts, and whorl over unused data, among other things, for £iii.99 per month.
FreedomPop also has a range of offers (most of which involve filling in surveys) which reward you lot with free data, so you can potentially get a lot more than than your allowance offers.
Awards
FreedomPop isn't a widely awarded network, which makes sense, equally it'southward focused on being as cheap as possible. Then yous get low prices (for the nuts anyway), but the network doesn't actually excel across that.
Network
Network Speeds
| Network | Download/upload speeds | 4G latency (ms) |
|---|---|---|
| EE | 44/nine.7Mbps | 36.0ms |
| FreedomPop (3) | 25.two/half-dozen.3Mbps | 48.3ms |
| Vodafone | 21.6/7.4Mbps | 39.0ms |
| O2 | 17.1/five.4Mbps | 38.1ms |
There aren't many reports into FreedomPop'due south speeds, only in an Opensignal report from September 2021, Three achieved an average download speed of 25.2Mbps, and an average upload speed of vi.3Mbps. Nonetheless, this factored in a combination of 5G, 4G and 3G, so FreedomPop's speeds may not be similar, since it doesn't accept 5G.
For 4G-only we take to look dorsum to October 2020, where Iii was institute to have 4G download speeds of 22.2Mbps on average, which is the second slowest in the test. Its average 4G upload speeds of eight.0Mbps are also second slowest. As FreedomPop shares 3's infrastructure and spectrum it's likely to offer similar speeds.
Three's latency (the amount of time it takes for the network to answer to a request), averaged 48.3ms in a study from April 2020 (used because recent reports don't include latency), which is slower than whatever other tested network, so once again, FreedomPop's is likely to be similar, and that's not so good.
Traffic management
At the time of writing, FreedomPop doesn't publish a traffic management policy equally far equally we can discover, just the visitor has previously said that it reserves the right to "engage in reasonable network direction to protect the overall network, including analysing traffic patterns and preventing the distribution of viruses or other malicious code."
Information technology additionally stated that during periods of congestion it will use various network direction techniques "such as reducing the data rate of individual bandwidth intensive users whose apply is negatively impacting other users." These limits are temporary, but for ongoing or recurring excessive use "FreedomPop reserves the correct to immediately restrict, suspend or end your access."
Network Frequencies
| Frequency | Frequency Band | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 800MHz | Ring 20 | 4G |
| 1800MHz | Band three | 4G |
| 2100MHz | Band 1 | 3G |
FreedomPop uses the 800MHz and 1800MHz bands for 4G. The 800MHz ring tin can travel over long distances, making information technology a good fit for rural locations, where there may non be many masts. Just information technology tin can too do a expert job of passing through walls and other objects, making information technology good for bringing 4G inside too.
1800MHz isn't quite as long range or as adept at passing through walls, but it'due south available in college capacities, and this allows it to cope better with congested areas, such every bit metropolis centres.
FreedomPop may one mean solar day likewise get admission to Three'southward 700MHz, 3.4GHz and iii.6-4GHz spectrum, simply this will probably only happen if or when it starts offering 5G.
You can find in depth details of those bands in our 4G and 5G frequencies guide.
Client service
Customer service can be hard to gauge, peculiarly in FreedomPop'due south example, as none of the recent studies and surveys have looked at this network.
The all-time nosotros can do is look at its Trustpilot rating, which at the fourth dimension of writing stands at 2.3 out of 5, which is classed as a 'poor' score, so customer service might not be great. It's worth noting that FreedomPop's site has become hard to navigate and find information on too, and generally feels a scrap neglected.
Conclusion
FreedomPop is a solid network for one simple reason: it has plans that start at very depression prices.
That makes it nifty if you lot're a light user or want a 2d number that won't cost yous much. Paid bolt-ons such as tethering and data rollover also give information technology a number of additional strengths.
However, these can also make the price add upwards, and if you also need higher allowances than the basic tier offers you might find you lot're better off on a conventional network. The lack of roaming also actually hurts it, and the fact that information technology no longer offers free plans is a large bespeak confronting information technology.
Overall FreedomPop is an boilerplate network at best and tough to recommend equally a primary network for all but the lightest users, just if that's you, or you want a cheap plan for a second number, then it's well worth a look.
Alternatives
One strong alternative to FreedomPop is Smarty. While not quite every bit cheap, this is even so a very affordable network, and it has the same coverage.
Plus, y'all arguably become a lot more than for your money, with 5G included as standard, free roaming in Europe, and the option of unlimited information. The main downside of Smarty is as well an issue with FreedomPop, namely that there'southward just SIM Just plans available, and so for other plan types you'll need to expect elsewhere.
In that case you could consider Three itself, which offers a broad range of plans, and again offers the same coverage, but at a typically college price.
Source: https://www.4g.co.uk/freedompop-4g-coverage-and-network-summary/
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